"Recently, Valve went on record saying that they'd like their upcoming Team Fortress 2 map pack to be free on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but admitted that such a situation might not be possible. Many wondered if this uncertain future was the result of EA meddling or interference from the platform holders themselves.

We contacted Valve to clarify and their VP of marketing Doug Lombardi informed us that, "The platform holder owns the final call." So just as we'd suspected, whether or not we see these maps for free is indeed up to Sony and Microsoft."

Well then this presents a bad situation, since if MS and Sony do charge for the content, they are effectively splitting up the TF2 console community with the new maps. I personally love TF2 and would pay for these new maps, but I'm quite sure that console owners are getting the short end of the stick as PC gamers pay absolutely nothing for anything related to TF2 except the price of the game itself.

This raises the question, will MS or Sony charge for the DLC? This is up for debate and discussion, although I'm disappointed that Valve cannot make the content free for every owner of The Orange Box. Why not go the Epic route and Bungie route (Halo 2 days) and acquire sponsors for the content? This is possible as other companies have done it before, but there is no definite answer as to why companies such as Sierra, 2K and Activision (even EA!) offer free DLC on Xbox Live and PSN, if they can do it why can't Valve?

did it say they WERE charging.... no, so basically this is old news that anyone that bothers to look into console gaming would know, its up to the platform holders.

True, we still aren't sure. I could see either happening. On one hand, microsoft is a very hungry, greedy cookie monster of a monopoly (not sure about Sony). On the other hand, DLC has been free before and it could happen again. M$ may be greedy, but keep in mind that this coming out on a competing system, and, since looking to make more $$$ in the long run, they may let be free, as may Sony. But then again, M$ is very, very hungry.

If I had $1000 for every time someone out here told me they were 100% confident that the publisher had the final say so I would have a good chunk of change. I am glad this issue is finally concluded. This is why you do not release a console product that is NOT finished.

This is why you do not release a console product that is NOT finished.

Right. So Call of Duty 4 is a unfinished product because they're going to release a map pack? If I remember, there is currently 16 official maps on CoD4. Now to my other point: Was Counter-Strike released with the 25 official maps? Or were they added along with the time?

If this is how you classify products, I should drop college and have a switch of career just so I don't have to deal with customers like you.

Right. So Call of Duty 4 is a unfinished product because they're going to release a map pack? If I remember, there is currently 16 official maps on CoD4. Now to my other point: Was Counter-Strike released with the 25 official maps? Or were they added along with the time?

If this is how you classify products, I should drop college and have a switch of career just so I don't have to deal with customers like you.

Like my art teacher says: "A man's work is never done."

When you only release 6 maps with your product and the product you released has major issues and you want to make major modifications and changes... it is unfinished... to say otherwise would be foolish. I wonder if Valve has any positions open... you would fit right in with this backwards thinking. Don't remember my copy of CS on the Xbox1 having 25 maps at all.

if sony decides to make it free then it will be good because microsoft will have to lower the price in order to compete

Hasn't stopped them until now... I mean they don't usually charge for anything like that on the PC.

I remember when GRAW came out for the PC and Xbox 360... the mappack came out with the additional missions, free on the PC, cost $15 on XBL. So for the same product on the PC which was $50, you paid $60+15 for a total of $75.

I'd bet the house on MS charging for the extra content. At first anyways, it'll probably be free at some stage like the extra Halo 3 content. The fact that the Orange Box was so cheap softens the blow a little but it still sucks that PC users will get the same for free.

I'd bet the house on MS charging for the extra content. At first anyways, it'll probably be free at some stage like the extra Halo 3 content. The fact that the Orange Box was so cheap softens the blow a little but it still sucks that PC users will get the same for free.

The problem is you split up a very small community to start with. Also, if they release the huge modification they plan for TF2 you could further split up the very small amount of players. Especially since they haven't fixed the problems with the game to start with. I have no idea what Valve is doing. This is why you don't release a console game until it's done.

If one publisher goes free, I'd bet $100 the other will. If one charges, the other will make the price lower or the product will be free. I can see Sony making it free, and then Microsoft making it free; I can also see Sony making it $5 and Microsoft making it free; it's all up in the air.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMXBL

When you only release 6 maps with your product and the product you released has major issues and you want to make major modifications and changes... it is unfinished... to say otherwise would be foolish. I wonder if Valve has any positions open... you would fit right in with this backwards thinking. Don't remember my copy of CS on the Xbox1 having 25 maps at all.

All major updates and map packs are going to cost, in general.

Well, The Orange Box is a working game. Sure, it has bugs... almost all games have bugs (some have more bugs than others), and maybe Orange Box has some major problems for some... but for most is it playable? I'd say so. Just because they're making patches and add-ons doesn't mean it's not a finished project. If it wasn't finished, there'd be a lot more problems than connection issues and framerate problems.

Besides, look at PC Team Fortress 2. It came with 8 official maps, and then some were added on. PS3 TF2 came with 6, and now some might be added on too. So, by your standards, I'm guessing PC TF2 is also an unfinished product? That's strange, because both happen to be playable for almost half of their communities. Just because something has major problems on its final release, doesn't mean it's unfinished. There'd be a lot of classified 'unfinished' games out there by your standards.